


Every Choice is Fine

by Silvex



Series: Labyrinths of Life [4]
Category: Etrian Odyssey Series, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Anachronistic, Are They Still Your Friends if They're From Another Timeline?, Codependency, F/M, Families of Choice, Homesickness, Psychological Trauma, Team as Family, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2020-05-28 06:12:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19388155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvex/pseuds/Silvex
Summary: The to-do list for the Masked Guild reads as such: Get the Yggdrasil Project up and running, try and fail to talk Hamuko out of getting an airship, plan for Zen and Rei's wedding.Finding the Velvet Room was not on that list, though they considered it a nice bonus. Somehow getting separated in the Velvet Room and coming out in a series of movies? As far from intended as they could get.Teenaged alternate timeline versions of everyone but Zen and Rei, as well as their friends and an odd group of Phantom Thieves? ...Actually, that's somehow the least weird thing.





	1. Before the Curtain Rises

"I still can't believe that, out of all of us, Zen and Rei are the first to get married."

"What are you talking about?" Souji asked. "They've never exactly been subtle... honestly, I don't think anyone could be worse, even Yuki-senpai." And engagement rings were expensive. Not that he'd say that out loud. He still didn't have enough for one, and while Yukiko hadn't started dropping hints yet... it was only a matter of time.

"I know. It's just... they look younger than the rest of us."

That was true. But it wasn't anyone's fault that, aside from Souji and Yukiko, it seemed that everyone's physical ages were the reverse of what they should have been.

...Well, okay, when it came to Shinjiro, there was plenty of blame to pass around, but bringing that up didn't seem like the healthiest thing in the world.

"They're technically twelve years older than us, though," He pointed out. "And even if it took them a decade to make it official..." And, well, no better way to cement the Arcanian immigrants being granted citizenship in various nations on Earth- for however long such a thing mattered, the environment being what it was- than with a wedding. Of course, for the six of them, it was more to celebrate finally being on their home planet again, but whatever worked.

The conversation was interrupted by a frantic knocking on the door. "Guys, guys!"

Souji sighed. "What does she want?" But he still went to open it, because losing a door to a Megidolaon seemed like a great way to get kicked out of their apartment. Sure, their leader was making plans to acquire an airship, but... really, he'd rather not be blacklisted from renting in Shinjuku.

Said leader stood on the doorstep, her eyes shining with excitement. "Souji-kun, you'll never guess what I found in the lab!"

"A sense of restraint?" He ventured. Really, even going biologically, she was still nineteen years old, the least she could do was act like it.

"First, don't mention that word around me. Second, do you really think that would be possible?" Hamuko, with a sense of restraint? Thinking about it, that did seem rather impossible. Then again...

"Don't you make a habit of doing the impossible?" Yukiko asked the question before he even realized he wanted the chance to.

"I haven't done that in a truly selfless manner in years, and you know it. I found the Velvet Room!"

Immediately, Souji's hand slipped to his pocket, fingers curling around the key there. He hadn't had use for it since his visit to Inaba for Golden Week got derailed in a way that was both good and bad.

Good because he got to see some of his friends, and Hamuko's teammates, again. Bad because that was when the world decided that it was finally going to end.

"You... you mean it? This isn't a joke, right?"

"Would I joke about this kind of thing? I got to see Theo and everything! Come on, we should all go see everyone!" It would be nice to see Margaret again, if she were really there... Marie, too. He could use some poetry of debatable quality right now.

"Wait... all of us? But... only two of us have keys." And only she and Zen had full clearance for the Gladsheim Laboratories anyway, unless Irving hadn't been telling him something the last time he visited.

"It should be fine if you hold their hand and drag them in! I already tested on Zen!" He'd warn her to be concerned about Rei, but... yeah, she'd be fine. Going back to the Velvet Room was something none of them had even dared to dream about.

And, well, it wasn't like he'd had any plans for his afternoon... Though, even with this new discovery, it'd probably still be something close to a normal day.

"Okay, we're in. Lead the way, Yuki-senpai."

"Every time, Vice Leader. And stop calling me that!" Yeah. Just another day.

* * *

This was not just another day. Souji picked himself up off the ground, looking around at what appeared to be an island in the middle of the night. Appeared to be.

"Nothing seems to be moving, is there?" Yukiko asked. He just shook his head. Actually... everything was grayed out. Like everything but the two of them was frozen in time.

Pausing, he reached for Izanagi-no-Okami's power, to see if there was some sort of illusion for him to dispel. Nothing. Though it did confirm one thing.

"Yukiko?"

"What is it?"

"We seem to have found ourselves outside time again. All I have is Izanagi. Both forms, but still..." A lot of the time, he wondered how Hamuko could keep her head on straight, what with having so many true Personas. At times like this, though... he was sort of jealous. Just having things to choose from... and more than one element, at that.

"So, we should try and find Zen first, right?" He supposed that made sense. When they found themselves outside time, the best thing to do would be to find the local time god.

"Right." And it was still sort of scary that they had any sort of protocol for this, but he supposed that was just a hazard of being friends with Hamuko. Every day was a new adventure.

They'd just have to hope this one turned out as well as the others.

* * *

Zen glanced around at all of the unmoving machinery. Were he a normal human, he'd almost think that he'd never left Gladsheim. But Gladsheim had MIKE, and scientists, and was generally not inside frozen time.

Rei seemed wholly unconcerned. But then, she'd spent ten years in nearly-frozen time. If the others were here, their reactions would likely be much more severe.

If they were even active. For all he knew, he was granted an exception due to his power, and Rei from the connection he'd created between them.

"Rei. We're going to find the others."

"Got it!" Sure, without weapons, they were limited to just his magic, but... he was a god, if an inactive one, and he could always split his powers with Rei. It would be fine.

* * *

Looking at all the signs surrounding her, all Hamuko could conclude was that she and Shinji had ended up in some sort of superhero-based dystopia. "You know... I think this might actually be one of the weirder things that's ever happened to me." Never a good thing to hear from an explorer of Yggdrasil, and especially not from her, but she figured she might as well say it.

"Great." Well, at least her boyfriend's sense of sarcasm was intact. Not that she felt she'd ever have to worry about that. "Any other good news?"

"We're outside time again. And I almost can't believe I just said that."

"You sure?"

"I'm down to four Personas, and my watch- which Zen-kun has handled multiple times- isn't working. Good news is, that means we can probably find you a sub-Persona if we need the extra power for something." Not that she expected to need it, with everything she could pull out, but... it was best to be safe.

It was always best to be safe.

Reassurance, love, and a hand on her shoulder. Hamuko wasn't sure when Shinji had gone from sensing her emotions to reading her thoughts, but maybe she was just getting predictable. "I don't think we'll need it. Not unless something like the Reaper shows up." And even then, there was a chance that they'd be fine, especially after the Star Devourer.

"You never know, it was there last time, too." Admittedly, in what seemed like an effort to get Chronos to do his job, and Zen still hadn't exactly been the most professional deity in the world during his final few years of activity, but it had been there.

And odds were it would want to come for Thanatos, too, if it got the chance. Not that she planned on giving it that chance.

"Doesn't that mean we should get moving? I don't think there are any pistons around." Fair point. And it wasn't like sticking around would give them anything, anyway. It wasn't like they had any weapons.

Well, okay, Hamuko carried her Evoker out of habit, but they'd both grown beyond the need for it. At most, she could use it to intimidate some Shadows into leaving them alone... if the incredible power that she and Shinji gave off didn't scare them away to begin with.

"Okay, then... you know, I think the worst part of this is, Souji-kun won't have Kaguya, so we can't just sit around and wait for him to scan for us." Still, she supposed one last adventure before retirement wouldn't be too bad. Especially if it was in a way that felt like when she'd been with SEES.

It was a nice feeling, if somewhat bittersweet. Those memories meant little, when there was no one to share most of them with, but they'd still been important, if only to a girl with Death in her heart and the potential to be anything she so chose. "Come on, let's try and find Zen-kun. If there's anyone who can fix this mess, it's him."

They managed to keep a low profile for a grand total of two streets, at which point a cop called them over because he thought Shinji looked shady. And Hamuko ended up losing her temper and setting the street on fire.

This was probably a bad sign for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All you need to know about the background for this:
> 
> Hamuko and Souji had their own version of Persona Q. Hamuko was the leader. Theo ended up triggering her memories of it the next time she visited the Velvet Room after and she took the liberty of reminding her teammates, who ended up reminding the IT immediately after it happened for them because Ken could not be subtle.
> 
> Hamuko, Shinjiro, Souji, Yukiko, Zen, and Rei ended up filling the roles of the main party in an Etrian Odyssey V Guild after a random apocalypse hit their own world. It's never mentioned in-story, but it totally involved some other Persona Users fucking up in Spain, who ended up completely wiped from existence, even in the annals of the Velvet Room.
> 
> Souji keeps calling Hamuko 'Senpai' to mess with her. She calls him 'Vice Leader' in return.
> 
> Hamuko loves dressing up in random outfits, much to the irritation of everyone else.
> 
> And, finally, of the three main couples, Zen and Rei somehow managed to be the least codependent for a while, until Souji and Yukiko properly got their acts together. Shinji and Hamuko haven't quite managed it yet, but there are... extenuating circumstances that don't really help with that.


	2. When New Lines Intersect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren makes some new friends. In the most confusing way possible, of course.

Sakura Ren- okay, so technically it was still Amamiya, but his parents weren't acknowledging him either way, so whatever- had wanted this to be a normal day. So Kasumi wasn't free to go to Mementos with the rest of them, that had been fine. The team was large enough to cover every element either way. He'd planned to just go in, do some requests, maybe camp out by the stairs and taunt the Reaper a little, that was always fun.

And, for a bit, things had gone along with his expectations perfectly fine. Up until they were planning to leave.

But then things had happened, and now he was working with most of his teammates to try and save the other two from a so-called superhero that looked just like his ex-gym teacher.

Today was clearly not his day.

"There's something on the next floor!" His sort-of adopted sister, actually-Sakura Futaba, stated. "I can't tell what it is, though... it feels almost human, but not quite. I'd try to look closer, but... I don't know, just be careful."

This was definitely odd. Futaba lived to snoop around in places where she didn't belong, for something to make her back off... Ren didn't get a good feeling about it, but he'd managed to maneuver his group around the FOEs without any sort of problem, so it'd be fine.

"Well, we'd better go check it out."

* * *

The first thing they found at the bottom of the stairs were Shadows. This was not a surprise, even if Ren was still a bit weirded out by not being able to convince them to become his Personas. And the fact that most of them were just odd masked creatures with no signs of intelligence. These were still Shadows, he was a Persona User, it was just another day on the job.

And then he heard an unfamiliar voice. "Oh, Shinji, look! People!"

"I see them..." Ren turned to face the newcomers, figuring that the others could handle the Shadows for the next fifteen seconds or so.

The new arrivals were a young man and woman not much older than the Phantom Thieves were, at least from observation. The woman wore a white labcoat, and Ren couldn't tell if her hair was red or brown, but she had an odd white flower pinned into it. Her eyes, he could clearly see, were as red as his own could be at times.

The man, meanwhile, had a black beanie and a thick coat. He seemed intimidating, but there was a chance he was on their side, so it might have been a good thing.

"I take it you're not from here, either?" He asked them. It was the woman who replied.

"I'm not sure anyone can be. We're outside of time, after all. Do you need some help with those Shadows?"

The man who was with her sighed. "Don't traumatize them." That was vaguely worrying. Still, Ren figured it couldn't hurt, particularly given a particular golden Shadow weaving through the fight. Taking on Blessbane was his job, the others could handle the rest of it.

So he shrugged and said, "Anything that comes up behind us is fair game."

Given how, while he was fighting, he could hear loud explosions behind him, this was probably a mistake.

* * *

"So, you're a group of Persona Users, right? Your outfits look really cool!"

"Of course you'd say that..." The woman's companion groaned. "We're not copying them."

"But it'd be really awesome! See, I'd have the leader's outfit, you could probably tolerate dressing like the guy who throws around lightning like he's Akihiko, and Souji-kun said once that he was friends with a fox..."

"I'm sorry about her. She's... excitable."

"I've dealt with worse." Ren had to actually make an effort not to glare at Morgana and Ryuji. "So, how did you end up here?"

The woman shrugged. "Well, we were going to the Velvet Room with some of our friends, to see everyone, but once we got back, Theo was the only one there. He didn't know where his sisters were, so we tried leaving, and ended up here. And it's just the two of us right now until we find them, and one of the missing ones is our best chance to get back to the normal timestream, so..."

"Normal timestream?" Akechi asked.

"Have any of you noticed your powers behaving differently than usual? Able to take on more or less Personas than you could normally? That's because time doesn't really have meaning here. It's not the first time this has happened to us, but..." She shook her head. "There were more of us, then. And this is a Labyrinth, but we don't really have any map paper or anything. So. What about you guys?"

"We don't even know your names, why should we tell you?" Morgana pointed out.

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm Yuki Hamuko, and that's Aragaki Shinjiro. I'm a Fool, and the first Persona I Awakened to is called Orpheus. Shinji reads as Hierophant or Moon depending on what angle you look at him, and his Persona's called Castor. I'm sure it's very nice to meet you all."

Aragaki gave Yuki an odd look, but she ignored it.

Ren nodded. "I'm sure it is, too, Yuki-san." If only because she hadn't tried stabbing them while their backs were turned yet. "I'm Joker, and these are Mona, Fox, Crow, Panther, and Skull. We're the Phantom Thieves."

"And you say Skull's bad!?" Panther hissed.

"I'm telling them, because it's either me or Skull!" It was bound to come up, at least now it would be when both sides were weakened by battle. Even if neither Yuki or Aragaki looked it.

Yuki seemed to have actual stars in her eyes now. "That's really cool! I mean, I had Featherman costumes back at the dorms, and those were amazing, but the closest I actually had to this whole aesthetic were maid and butler uniforms, which are an entirely different appeal-"

"Hamuko. Please. You're overwhelming them."

"R-right, sorry. It's just... been a while. Since I met new Persona Users. I'm trying to remember what I did back then, but..."

"No, you did the same thing then, too."

Ren got a very, very bad feeling about this.

"So, we were told there were criminals besides us in this city," He said, trying to distract the other two before they said anything else that was concerning. "I guess that's the two of you?"

"Yep. In order of severity, our charges are: looking shady, arson, killing a few of those chicken-looking FOEs, and having an opinion."

...Actually, maybe the best way to stop them from saying concerning things was for them to just not talk at all. That would be great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ren is bitter. Ren is very, very bitter. This might or might not be how I handled the character limit.
> 
> Ren is also very, very confused. And mildly terrified.
> 
> Some people should not be left alone in a city-based Labyrinth for six hours. Hamuko is one of those people.


	3. When You're Feeling Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theodore, and the role he plays in this changed world.

The last time Yuki Hamuko graced the halls of the Velvet Room, she was carrying the naginata she'd used in their final battle. "Its name is Kanemitsu," She said, "And I found it in Monad. Fuuka-chan says it's the best of its kind."

Theo didn't know a lot about human weapons, so he didn't say anything to that, until she handed it over to him. "...Hamuko-sama?"

"I believe that... one day, the world won't need a Great Seal anymore. And... I don't know what's going to happen to me after that, whether I'll come back or go to Shinji or something else, but no matter where I end up... there'll still be Shadows to fight." She said it so simply, as if she could not conceive of a world where she wasn't fighting.

Maybe she couldn't. Theodore never claimed to have a full understanding of humans, this one in particular. And she wasn't exactly wrong- Shadows, in fact, did exist everywhere.

"You wish for me to hold this until then?"

She grinned, a strained smile compared to the brilliant ones she used to give before. But then, Hamuko was very much a shell of her former self to begin with. Walking around with barely any soul remaining would do that to you. It simply removed all of the life from her.

She was still beautiful without it.

"I knew you'd understand. I guess you've picked up on a bit after all. I've used a lot of naginatas... but Kanemitsu's the best. Fuuka-chan was right about that. And... I think there's some value to it, being the weapon that fought Nyx, after all."

"...I suppose there is, if people would know of what you had done." He hoped this didn't mean Elizabeth would show up with Excalibur later. Thankfully, the two worlds were different enough that this probably would not be the case. Elizabeth with a legendary sword was something to be wary of. "But... not many will." Not in the near future, at least.

"I know. I don't mind." Theo wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not.

Well. He had some idea. But he wasn't going to think on that just yet.

Still, he accepted the weapon, agreeing with Yamagishi's assessment- this was very fine craftsmanship, the blade created in such a way as to slice through anything. "I will protect it with my life. Thank you, Hamuko-sama."

And now the smile was real. "I'm sure I can count on you, Theo. ...Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yes?" The more he kept her talking here... the longer until she had to leave.

"After Souji-kun goes through everything... Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't keep our promise, all right? I... I have something I have to do now." In the moment that she faltered, Messiah dissolved back into her fading soul, only for her resolve to reignite itself.

Theodore wondered if she'd even make it to the day she'd chosen to die on, if this was already happening within the first week.

But he didn't voice that doubt, and he watched her walk away for the last time, to live out her remaining month in peace.

* * *

"You should stay here," Elizabeth told him, the two of them standing together in an abandoned elevator- it didn't matter which one, really. Not when neither of their Guests would step through those doors again. "Sakuya-sama and Hamuko-sama have both made their own choices, and it was the same. But we do not have to follow in that path."

Theo considered pointing out that, of the two of them, he was the one their Guests had judged most likely to properly function as part of humanity, but he knew it was no use. Elizabeth was not somebody who backed down.

"Sister... if that is the case, then when you find your answer, you should inform me, so that I can better serve Hamuko-sama." It was the elevator he'd assisted in, he realized, seeing the naginata leaning against the desk that Igor had sat at. Their master hadn't entered either elevator since the Seal was cast.

"I will," She promised, and he believed her, because while he realized how much she teased, he also knew that she would not lie about these things. Not when she understood that his heart belonged to his Guest, just as much as hers did to Shiomi, even if both Wild Cards had already fallen in love with somebody else. Even if their love would never be returned, they would still serve as best they could.

It was just that their Guests would be better served with one of them being on the outside, and Elizabeth had already decided that it would be her.

Leaving him on his own to tend the elevators.

* * *

Well. He guessed he only had to look after one elevator, now. An entire world, gone without a trace.

Hamuko's world. And Souji's, too, but it was Margaret who would be concerned with that, and at least she still had Narukami. He and Elizabeth had split the two divergent Fools between themselves, and now only one was left.

Just a couple years after the Seal was cast, too. As if there hadn't been a point in his Guest choosing to chain herself in the first place.

But her elevator was still there. As if there was a chance that she could return, one day. A cruel hope, dangled just before him like a piece of string before a cat- or, at least, he thought that was how Elizabeth had described her most recent false lead.

Whether there truly was a chance or not. He would not abandon this elevator. He had promised Hamuko that he would look after Kanemitsu, and so he would, until the end of time if need be.

He hoped that there wouldn't be such a need.

* * *

The Demiurge had no interest in an empty timeline. Theodore supposed he should have considered that to be a good thing.

The Demiurge had no use for multiple Attendants. And it certainly didn't want the extras fleeing to the outside world. This was why Theodore was apprehensive.

Because now, he was trapped in an elevator that had stopped ascending years ago, and he knew that Margaret was similarly stuck in an unmoving limousine. The two of them could travel between their two respective Rooms, but it was easier for the both of them, to pretend they were waiting for their Guests, even if they would never arrive.

This was what he had thought. And then, the floor jolted beneath his feet, and the Velvet Room started rising up again. There was the telltale creak of an opening door- he'd been neglecting to oil the hinges to any door but Margaret's, due to limited resources.

He looked up. And there, with a shining soul filled with life, and a heart bursting with the power of two resolutions, was Hamuko. Wearing a labcoat, for some reason, but it wasn't like he wasn't aware of his Guest's passion for cosplay.

"...Theo?" She stepped inside, pausing for a moment to adjust her sleeves. "Where's Igor?"

"My master is... indisposed, for the moment." No need to worry her. This was already too good to be true, surely he couldn't manage to upset a dream version of the someone so kind and helpful. "But I am sure I can manage whatever you need." Her Compendiums- both her normal one, and the one containing her sub-Personas- were tucked away in a desk drawer, and he could open it easily. And the Yasogami Labyrinths had left him no stranger to performing fusions.

She shook her head. "I... don't really need anything right now, actually. I just... wanted to see if you were still there. After everything. After all, there... weren't exactly any doors on Mars."

Of course not. There was no reason to open a location on a planet that, in most worlds, would be completely uninhabited. Certainly, none where a Contract had been necessary. "Mars?"

"Yeah, Zeus' invitation really wasn't specific about that sort of thing, was it? Anyway, I managed to hitch a ride back with a new friend, along with a bunch of others, and now I'm taking psychology courses online so if anyone wants me to act as their therapist I'll be able to charge them for it. Also doing something about the environment, but..." She shrugged. "That's secondary. It really is good to see you again, you have no idea."

He was glad to have her back. And he could return Kanemitsu to her, in perfect condition, just as he'd said he would.

For once, things were actually starting to look okay.

* * *

And then he ended up outside time, with an Elizabeth minus several years of experience, a similarly younger Margaret, and a future version of Lavenza that had been split in half, but that he couldn't talk about because timeline issues.

...So this was what it felt like to be Margaret.

Now, if only he could figure out where Hamuko and her friends went...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Being Theo is suffering. Until now.
> 
> Odds are, after this, he'll just move in with Shinji and Hamuko until the P5 plot fully resolves itself. Which could be a while, as for him, it's currently the February before.


	4. Something Set You Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fool, the Arcana of infinite possibilities.
> 
> The Universe, the Arcana that grants the power to work miracles.
> 
> The Phantom Thieves, a group that has powers Hamuko does not.
> 
> This could only really end one way.

Having Yuki and Aragaki tagging along would take some getting used to. Ren had been aware of that since the instant the two older Persona Users showed up, if only because none of them had ever given any thought to the idea that there might be other Persona Users out there.

Something he'd admitted, and been sort of surprised by the response. "I don't think anyone does, to start with," Yuki commented, turning over an object that looked like a small silver gun in her hands. "Not until they meet another group. And then... well, I met two other groups pretty close together, but I'm led to believe that's not normal."

If there was a story there, Ren would probably spend the rest of the trip deciding whether or not he wanted to hear it. As well as how she knew things like the term 'FOE', when his group had more or less coined it on the spot.

But that wasn't the strangest part.

The two of them seemed to understand the mechanics of the situation a lot better than Caroline and Justine did, though maybe not as much as the older residents of the Velvet Room, though it was hard to tell when none of the three in blue would talk about just how much they knew and Futaba seemed oddly wary of asking the elder Persona Users.

Not that them knowing things was odd, they were older, had their own pool of sub-Personas, it was pretty clear that they had some sort of experience, but then Yuki would casually mention such things as being outside time, a concept that Ren couldn't quite get his head around.

Aragaki suggested that, if it confused them, they could wait until they found one of their friends. "He can probably explain it better, as long as he remembers that you're just normal humans."

Ann blinked. "You're not even going to try?"

"That's not my job."

"Then what is your job?" Morgana asked.

"Emotional support." The sad thing was, Ren couldn't tell if Yuki was being serious or not.

* * *

But all of that was something he could handle. So what if they only seemed to be following him because they were outnumbered? So what if it seemed like they knew everything already? Those were easy to deal with compared to... this.

"Hey, Joker, could you show me that 'Eiha' spell again?" Yuki asked. Given that she had professed a weakness to that particular weakness, Ren was convinced she was just messing with him.

...Was that how the others felt, most of the time?

"Why do you ask?" He wasn't going to lose his patience. He could be friendly with Akechi, he could handle a not-quite-adult who acted more like she was his age.

"Well, back home, there's plenty of Shadows who use Mudo, and Hama, too, and I've known people who used them. I even have some Personas who use them- Mudo's one of my favorites, actually." Given her weakness, that was actually really weird. Ryuji had taken one look at the wind-based sub-Personas and declared his unwillingness to go anywhere near them, and Morgana had promptly done the same with the lightning ones. Or maybe it was just because it was Ryuji and Morgana. "But I've never seen Eiha or Kouha before, so I can't quite figure them out."

Aragaki sighed, shaking his head. "Do you really need more spells?"

"Eiha's basically an obligation, at least." And then the gun came out again, and she was far too casual about waving that thing around. "I might even be able to figure out how to get that one on multiple Personas."

Ren wasn't entirely sure how that worked. Personas had certain skills they could learn, and set ways of learning them, and if nothing the older Fool had could use Kouha or Eiha, that probably wasn't going to change.

But she seemed certain that she could get the spell to work, so he decided to humor her, for the moment. And order Akechi to demonstrate, as well, because it just wasn't fair if only one of them had to do it.

At least, that was the excuse he was using.

* * *

Eventually, Yuki vanished into the streets of the city for a bit, before coming back covered with giant chicken feathers and looking rather pleased with herself.

When Aragaki saw her, he seemed to be mostly resigned to it. "Satisfied, now?"

She nodded, a big grin on her face. "Come on, aren't there any spells you wish you could use?"

"Yeah. Because you told me I wasn't allowed to use them anymore."

Ren had no idea what to think of that little exchange, but he was no longer being asked to show off his powers, so he supposed he'd take a little more mystery.

And that was the end of that.

* * *

Until, of course, they'd rescued Makoto and Haru. "Frei and... Psi? I've never heard of those spells before!" Next to her, Aragaki buried his face in his hands.

Ren, watching the situation from the outside, for once, realized that, when it wasn't him dealing with it, he actually found this whole thing pretty funny. Particularly when he'd never have to deal with it again.

* * *

And then he met Seta Souji and Narukami Yu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, Hamuko had a conversation with Akihiko about not letting Shinji be the entirety of his impulse control. Apparently, she's not much better.
> 
> I'm not sure at what point Hamuko using Orpheus Telos became basically a blue mage, but it certainly does encourage socialization, so it can't really hurt to keep it.


End file.
